1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, in the recording apparatus in which recording is performed to a recording medium such as paper or an OHP sheet, various modes in which recording heads adopting various recording methods are mounted have been proposed. A wire dot printing method, a thermal printing method, a heat transfer printing method, and an inkjet printing method can be cited as examples of the recording head.
Particularly, the inkjet printing method in which ink is directly ejected to the recording medium is widely used compared with other methods, because an operating noise level is low during recording operation and running cost is low.
In the inkjet recording apparatus, performance such as colorization of characters and patterns (or graphics) to be recorded, speed-enhancement of recording operation, or quality-enhancement of recording image has been remarkably improved. The inkjet recording apparatus becomes familiar to users more and more, such that the inkjet recording apparatus is placed on an individual desk in an office or the inkjet recording apparatus is used on daily basis in home. Therefore, in the inkjet recording apparatus, user requests for further miniaturization and weight reduction while maintaining the high performance are increased. In particular, reduction of the thickness of the inkjet recording apparatus is strongly desired so that the inkjet recording apparatus can be stored in a bookshelf or a drawer of the desk while the user does not use the inkjet recording apparatus.
In the so-called serial type recording apparatus in which the recording is performed while the recording head is scanned, the miniaturization of the recording head is very efficient to the miniaturization of the inkjet recording apparatus and the reduction of the thickness of the inkjet recording apparatus. Because the serial type recording apparatus has a structure which requires a space in which the recording head is fully scanned within a recording width in the apparatus, the scanning space becomes smaller as the scanning head is smaller. Accordingly, the space which is more than the space obtained by the miniaturization of the recording head can be decreased.
However, even if the recording head is miniaturized, the advantage of the miniaturization of the recording head is lessened when a carriage mounting the recording head and peripheral parts of the carriage, i.e., the portion which is scanned with the recording head, cannot be miniaturized.
From the point of view of maintenance, the recording head generally has a configuration in which the recording head is detachably attachable to the carriage. In the detachably attachable type recording head, a configuration for fixing the recording head on the carriage is provided. In many cases, it is necessary to adopt the configuration which is easily operated by a user, in order that the user can exchange the recording heads. Therefore, a relatively large operating lever is conventionally provided in order to fix the recording head to the carriage. Further, a connector which connects the recording head and a cable for supplying a recording signal or electric power to the recording head is also required for the carriage. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H04-235040, there are disclosed a mounting portion for mounting the recording head on the carriage and a lever member displacably provided so as to cover the recording head mounting portion, wherein connection or release of the connector is performed so that the connector is caused to come into contact with the mounted recording head and to separate from the mounted recording head by rotating the lever member.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-181007, there is also disclosed a smaller recording head detachably attachable mechanism. In this example, one sidewall of the carriage has a recording head locating portion and a pressure contact connector utilizing elastic force of a rubber pad, and the locating of the recording head and the connection of the connector are performed by rotationally inserting the recording head from obliquely upward toward one sidewall. Further, the recording head is securely fixed to the carriage in such a manner that a latch lever, which is rotatably provided in the other sidewall opposite to one sidewall, latches the recording head. Accordingly, the recording head can be accurately and securely located in the carriage with the simple operation or the simple mechanism.
The method of mounting a card edge connector on the carriage has been also proposed as one of the methods of miniaturizing the recording head and the carriage.
However, in the conventional example disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H04-235040, since the connector is moved to be connected to the recording head by the lever operation, it is required that there is a space for moving the connector as well as hard wirings or a board on which the connector is mounted. Accordingly, sometimes the apparatus was enlarged and the apparatus was not suitable for the miniaturization.
The conventional example disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-181007 has the configuration, in which the pressure contact connector utilizing the elastic force of the rubber pad is used and a reaction force of the connector is received by a structure of the carriage itself. In recent years, as the number of nozzles of the recording head is increased, the number of contact points of the connector tends to be increased. When the larger number of contact points of the connector is provided, in order to permit the reaction force, it is necessary to strengthen the structure of the carriage itself, and the apparatus tends to be enlarged. In order to solve the above problem, there is the method in which the card edge connector is adopted. However, in the conventional example disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-181007, since the fixation of the carriage and the connection of the connector are performed by the rotational operation of the recording head, there is the problem that the card edge connector cannot be used.
When the card edge connector is adopted, although the card edge connector itself is small, there is also the problem that the configuration for connecting and releasing the card edge connector results in the enlargement of the carriage.